


Right Arm of the Giant, Left Arm of the Devil, Heart of the Titan

by stellacecfair



Category: Bleach
Genre: Anger, BAMF Kurosaki Ichigo, Chad-centric, Comfort Sex, Emotionally Repressed, Fights, Fluff and Angst, Nightmares, Power Dynamics, Protective Kurosaki Ichigo, Protective Sado "Chad" Yasutora, Sexual Content, Training, as in i go into chad and chad barely features in canon LMAO, canonically ambiguous, chad gets attention, ichigo is a reckless dumbass, ichigo is a sweetie who cares about chad so much, orihime... like... does something, powerup
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-21
Updated: 2019-04-20
Packaged: 2020-01-22 22:19:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18536593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stellacecfair/pseuds/stellacecfair
Summary: "What is that medallion thing you wear around your neck anyway? Is it valuable?""Absolutely. Probably worth more than my life."***Darkness sings sweetly in his dreams, and he's sure the only thing stopping him from slipping into the mire is the constant weight of gold against his chest.





	Right Arm of the Giant, Left Arm of the Devil, Heart of the Titan

Of all the things, it was a papercut that set him off.

" _Really?_ " Chad bellowed. The sight of the tiny scratch across his fingertip suddenly felt as humiliating as the wound he had received when Yammy Llargo had ripped his fucking arm off. "So you can't even deal with a piece of  _paper?_ This is what it's come to?  _This_ is the level of endurance you have? Can't even hold up against the monthly fucking tax bill!"

His skin did not respond to his tirade. Chad's fists clenched, and in a single, sweeping stroke, he sent his coffee table, with said bill, flying. It flipped in the air in a perfect circle and smashed dejectedly in the corner of his room.

If anyone he knew had seen him in such a state, they would have started pinching themselves, sure they had entered a bizarre dream. Yasutora Sado wasn't some maniac who started yelling at a papercut. He was a silent, reserved person, full of quiet strength. Something as small as  _this_ shouldn't have been able to faze him so much.

Chad looked at his broken coffee table and then down at his grievous new injury, and wondered whether he had somehow smoked crack with Keigo and forgotten about it. The surge of anger that had suddenly blinded him had dissipated as fast at it had arrived, and now he had extra expenses to deal with as a consequence.

"For the love of..." Chad curled his fingers tightly together and smacked himself in the head, once, twice, and thrice for good measure.  _What a fucking idiot you are. You're_ really  _losing it, Chad._

Anger had been his mainstay since childhood. His  _abuelo_ had made him fix his act up, he had learned to hide it so well people often considered him to be as emotionless as a mannequin, but the fact of the matter was it had never really gone away. It had lingered beneath his tough skin and had threatened to rise to the surface with every blow he received, whether it be emotional or physical, but he had always managed to force it down again. That had been his promise. 

It had never been anymore than a minor inconvenience to him, he had become so zen in recent years that the emotion of anger was simply like an irritating fly, one that he could swat away easily. But these days, it rose within him so powerfully that sometimes, in the space of a moment, Chad had to explode, otherwise he would be liable to lose his mind.

"Idiot," he said softly to himself, sinking to the ground and crossing his legs. He held his arms out in front of him, flexing his fingers. "What is going on with you?"

There was a stirring feeling in his hands, not unlike the sensation he had felt in the sands of Hueco Mundo. His powers were whispering something to him, but no matter how hard Chad strained his mind, he could never hear what they were saying to him.

He tried to listen now. He closed his eyes, channelling a soft layer of Reiatsu to bathe his fists, and attempted to calm himself down. He relaxed his facial muscles, he imagined he was on a sunny, deserted island, he took a deep breath... He opened his ears...

But he could hear nothing but the grumbles of car engines outside his apartment, someone yelling, maybe a fight was going on, Chad didn't care, he was trying to focus-

 _Come on, just fucking tell me you what you want!_ Chad thought furiously, frustration rising within him again. The whispers suddenly grew louder, and Chad quickly quietened down his mind eagerly. But then there was just silence again.

Chad waited for several minutes, trying to discern any sort of message from his arms, but he got absolutely nothing.

Chad opened his eyes, his jaw clenched. Fine, fine,  _fine-_

_Bang, bang, bang._

"Chad!"

Chad's eyes widened. 

_Bang, bang, bang._

"Hey, Chad!"

 _Oh, God._ Chad was suddenly well aware that his living room was a wreck, and that he was barely holding himself together, and the person that voice belonged to-

"Chad, are you gonna open up or what? I'm kinda in a situation here!"

 _In a situation?_ "I'm coming!"

Chad got up and scrambled to the door. When he pulled it open, he was met with the sight of one Ichigo Kurosaki.

"Ichigo!" Chad said in disbelief. 

Ichigo gave Chad a white grin and a wink. "Heya, baby."

" _Heya, baby?_ Are you serious?" Chad couldn't believe what he was seeing. "Ichigo, you're  _bleeding!_ "

Indeed, Ichigo was holding onto his left arm, which seemed to have been slashed. There was blood dripping onto Chad's carpet. Not only that, but Ichigo was sporting a black eye, and his lip was cut.

Ichigo looked down at his injuries. "I did say I was in a situation."

"Come in, come in!" Chad said, hurrying Ichigo into the apartment. "What  _happened_ to you, Ichi?"

"Well," Ichigo said, looking slightly bewildered as he noticed Chad's upturned coffee table. Chad pushed him down onto the couch and then hurried off to find his phone and an ice pack. "I was just comin' to pay you a visit, because I wasn't feelin' so good tonight, when I ran into this punk on the street outside your house. He was just standin' there, lookin' up at your apartment, so I got all suspicious. I wondered what the hell he was lookin' at. So I asked him."

"Then what happened?" Chad said, pushing the ice pack into his boyfriend's hand and turning on his phone, looking for Orihime's number.

"He got all defensive. Askin' me all sorts of stupid questions, like, what business was it of mine what he did, who was I, why was I bein' so nosy. So I told him,  _that's my boyfriend's house you're starin' at like a creep._ " Ichigo flashed a wide grin, and then hissed as it reopened his cut.

"Careful," Chad chided him, helping to clean up the cut again. "What did he do then?"

"Well, you know guys like that. Fuckin' hot-headed freaks who lose their mind at the mention of a little bit of gay. It was out with the  _faggots_ and the  _queers_ an' I wasn't gettin' another word out of him. Threw a punch, so I went to beat the hell outta him. Ain't no way I was gonna let him put one over me. I gave him a good beating, too, it felt so good to use my fists again, but guess what he had under his sleeve?"

Chad looked at the laceration on Ichigo's arm. That same fury welled up inside of him again. "A knife."

"Goddamn right. Dirty bastard pulled it out without me even noticin' it. I did manage to knock it from him, and I kneed his balls off of his body, but not before he got a swipe in. Hurts like a  _bitch._ " Ichigo shook his head, and Chad could see beads of sweat forming at his temples. "And I still didn't find out why the hell he was gawkin' at your apartment like that. Did you know who he was? He was some dumbass motherfucker."

"'Dumbass motherfucker' doesn't really give me an idea of what he looks like, Ichi."

Ichigo sprawled out on Chad's couch, gripping onto his bleeding arm. "Oh, right, yeah. Well, he was an  _ugly_ dumbass motherfucker. Dark hair, kinda short-"

"Eyebrow piercing?" Chad said, closing his eyes.

Ichigo looked at Chad suspiciously. "Yeah. He had an eyebrow piercing. Don't tell me you know him!"

"I do." Chad gave a deep, weary sigh. "It doesn't matter right now, though. Let me just call Orihime over here, she can heal your wound, it means you won't get in any trouble with the police by going to the hospital-"

He blinked as Ichigo reached out to grab his wrist, stopping him from dialling Orihime's number.

"Chad." Ichigo's gaze was steady, and Chad found he couldn't meet it. "Don't be fuckin' stupid. I've been cut apart with a Zanpakuto more times than I can count. I can handle this shitty little papercut. I wanna know now. Who the hell was that guy?"

Chad couldn't look into his boyfriend's burning eyes. "It's nothing I haven't dealt with before-"

"You think I give a shit if you've dealt with it before? You shouldn't be dealin' with it  _now!_ " Ichigo sounded genuinely angry, losing the casual drawl to his voice. "I don't wanna find out that my boyfriend is being stalked by a fuckin' knife-carrying freak!  _Was_ he stalking you?"

"Ichi-"

"Chado, tell me!" Ichigo grabbed hold of Chad's shirt front, and gave a little cry as the movement hurt his arm. "Tell me if you're gettin' harrassed by creeps and weirdos again!"

"It was just some guy looking for a fight, it's always some guy looking for a fight!" Chad said. "I walked into him by mistake, he got all worked up when he saw how big I was and wouldn't take my apology. He threw a punch and nearly broke his own hand doing it. Then he got even more pissed when I wouldn't punch him back. He eventually went away when a policeman walked by, so I thought it would be over."

"But he followed you home!" 

Chad watched Ichigo's anger in exasperation. "Baby, he wouldn't have done anything to me. I could crush him with one hand."

"Yeah, but you wouldn't! That's why you always need me to bail your sorry ass out!" Ichigo was completely frustrated. "We made a promise, Chad, a promise that you would fight, if not for yourself then for me! Or have you forgotten that?"

"Of course I haven't," Chad said patiently.

"Yeah, well, it seems to me like you have, 'cause you don't seem to remember that you're the most important thing in the world to me, so you need to protect yourself for me, if you're not gonna do it for yourself!"

"And you're the most important thing to me," Chad said softly, smiling despite Ichigo's irritation. "So if you could just sit back and  _let me call Orihime to heal you,_ that would be great too."

Ichigo glared at Chad. And then he settled down again. "Don't think I'm dropping this."

"I wouldn't dream of it." Chad winked at Ichigo, who looked even more annoyed that his boyfriend was taking things so lightly. He was also annoyed because Chad winking was  _sexy._

Chad pressed the call button on Orihime's profile and waited, as Ichigo muttered obsceneties under his breath and tried to stop dripping too much blood onto Chad's couch. After a couple of rings, Orihime's perky voice floated through the line. "Heyyyy, Chad!"

"Orihime, hey," Chad said quietly. "I don't mean to interrupt you when it's so late, I'm sorry, but we kind of have a situation with Ichigo."

"With Ichigo?" Orihime immediately sounded worried. "A situation? Oh no, what's happened? Is he alright?"

"Well... he's got an injury. A big cut. I hate to ask you to go out of your way, but could you come and use Sōten Kisshun, please? I would've called an ambulance, but it would have brought up unwanted questions..."

"Tch, unwanted questions," Ichigo said in the background, annoyed. "Maybe I should've gone with a damn ambulance, so I could've told them about the freaks that are causin' you trouble!"

Orihime gasped over the line, and Chad closed his eyes. "Freaks? Causing trouble? Oh, no, this sounds _bad_! I'll be there right away, I hope he doesn't lose too much blood! Oh, no, no, no!"

"Orihime, don't worry too much, he's conscious and upright-" Chad tried to reassure the undoubtedly frantic orangette, but the line clicked before he could say anything else. He sighed. "Ichi, now look what you've done."

Ichigo grinned again. "I inspire so much worry in people, it's crazy. It's 'cause the world couldn't live without me, y'know? Shinigami powers or not, I'm still one of the most important people out there. Ahhh, I'm  _so_ great, aren't I?"

Chad gave Ichigo a disbelieving look, which Ichigo blithely ignored. 

"Baby, I was gonna ask," Ichigo said lightly. "What in the hell happened to your coffee table?"

Chad looked at the coffee table and then to his boyfriend's curious expression. Ichigo's eyes darkened at Chad's hesitance.

"Did you break it?" Ichigo asked quietly. Chad didn't give a response. "Are you feelin' all right, baby?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, _you're_ the hurt one here," Chad said. "Ichi, you could be cut in half and you would still ask me whether I'm doing okay. It was just an accident, you know how clumsy I am."

"I don't think you're clumsy," Ichigo said bluntly. "You're way more composed than I am, and you're about ten times bigger. And you're always super gentle with me."

Chad flopped down onto the couch beside Ichigo, who dropped his head against his boyfriend's shoulder. "I have to be gentle with you, because you're so fragile."

" _Fragile?"_ Ichigo demanded, outraged. "You callin' me fragile? Like hell I'm fragile! If I was fragile then you friggin' ass clowns would've been found at the bottom of a crater seventeen months ago! You take that back!"

"Sorry, sorry," Chad said mildly, as always, immune to Ichigo's quick temper. "You're rock solid and have an iron will. Nothing can shatter your resolve."

"Damn straight!" Ichigo said peevishly. 

"Nothing can break your composure... nothing at all..." Chad said in a very soft voice. His head moved downwards, and his lips touched Ichigo's neck. 

Ichigo turned a bright shade of red and shivered. "Fuck you. You can't just kiss my neck and make me forget about the fact I'm worried about you."

Chad kissed Ichigo's jaw. The gentleness of the kiss made warmth spread throughout Ichigo's body. "I know I can never make you stop worrying about me. So maybe I should make up for all the burden I cause you..."

This was a Chad who was only comfortable emerging when he was alone with his boyfriend. Nobody else would ever see this side of him.

"You're so annoying," Ichigo said, still blushing furiously. "I hate you. But you've never been a burden to me."

He leaned forwards and pressed his mouth against Chad's in a comforting kiss. Everything about intimate contact with Ichigo was comforting. Most people assumed he would be the type of guy to be fiery and intense, but in fact he was the opposite- he was soft and vulnerable.

The kiss deepened. Chad emptied his mind, losing himself in sensation, feeling Ichigo's fingers curl tightly against his chest and tasting the mint of the gum he always liked to chew. The resounding silence of his head should have given him peace, but right in the middle of the kiss, the voices echoing through his veins suddenly gave a great shout.

"Chado?" Ichigo said in alarm, as Chad jerked his head back abruptly. "What's the matter?"

Chad clenched his fists, staring down at his arms. He was sure he had heard something- a word- " _OUT!_ "

"Chado, what is it?" Ichigo said worriedly. He noticed Chad's fixation on his arms. "Is it... is it your powers? Has something happened to them?"

Chad's muscles tensed. "No. Nothing's happened to them."

"Then why did you react like that?" Ichigo demanded. "What's going on-"

There was an interruption in the form of someone rapping on the door. 

"Chaaad! Ichigooo! It's me, Orihime! I'm here to heal you!"

Ichigo looked at Chad fiercely, who looked at him back pleadingly-  _Orihime's here. Let's talk about this later._

"I'm coming, Orihime!" Chad called, getting up and running for the door.

He tried to ignore Ichigo's gaze on his back. Ever since Ichigo had lost his Shinigami powers, his protective instinct had amped up more than ever and he had become even more fierce in his resolve to keep everyone safe. Chad cursed. The last thing Ichigo needed was to get himself into even more trouble over him...


End file.
